


FK6, around Chapter 5 - maybe - (A Falling Kingdoms Fanfiction)

by timotheus_the_watcher (orphan_account)



Category: Falling Kingdoms Series - Morgan Rhodes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-09
Updated: 2017-01-09
Packaged: 2018-09-15 21:33:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9258152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/timotheus_the_watcher
Summary: A solution to the cliffhanger at the end of Crystal Storm (Falling Kingdoms #5).





	

**Author's Note:**

> I am definitely not the type to “curl up into a ball and die” (call me insensitive but I thought this line was hilarious), so after finishing CS I immediately started to work on a solution to the - pretty cool imo - cliffhanger.
> 
> (Disclaimer: I have absolutely no knowledge whatsoever about what is going to happen in FK6. This story is purely my imagination and was, of course, inspired by the events in Crystal Storm, as well as the first four books in the Falling Kingdoms series by Morgan Rhodes.)
> 
> WARNING: This story obviously contains major spoilers for Crystal Storm, so don’t read this until after you finish the book!!!

Jonas woke drowsily at dawn after one of the worst nights of his life. And considering that he had spent a rather limited number of nights sleeping in regular beds, this feeling meant something. He had been used to a lot of hardships during his life – what he was not used to, however, was the sound of a crying baby.

It seemed that whenever he was drifting off to sleep, Lyssa got hungry again and demanded her mother. He half cursed himself for agreeing to spend the night in Lucia's room, in case she needed more of his magic. But she seemed to be doing just fine.

It had taken them a while to find an inn after being soaked through from the storm. The innkeeper had naturally assumed that Lucia and he were married, and Jonas had considered it the easiest not to correct him. And the newborn baby provided an excellent excuse to have the innkeeper provide an extra mattress for Jonas to sleep on.

The innkeeper's wife had been extremely supportive in helping Lucia with the baby and teaching her basic skills like how to hold Lyssa, how to change diapers, and how to feed her. She had also sent Jonas on several errands to get dry clothes for himself and Lucia, as well as changes of clothes for Lyssa and an armful of cloth diapers.

He had never given much thought to the practical aspects of infant care and was still reluctant to do so now; but he knew he would have to deal with all of this only until he finally dropped Lucia and Lyssa off with the rest of the Damoras.

He pushed himself up and found Lucia standing by the window, gently rocking her little bundle. She turned around when he moved and gave him a tired but oddly happy smile.

“Good morning. Are you ready to go?”

“Good morning to you, too. The least you can do is to allow me some breakfast before we get on our way to your family. I think I deserve that.”

“I'm sorry, Jonas. You are right, of course. But you do understand that I am very anxious to leave, don't you?”

“If you don't mind my saying so, Lucia, you should have a good breakfast too. You can't support yourself and little Lyssa without taking in some food.”

“True. So, I'll meet you downstairs shortly? And then we can figure out where to organize a wagon for our journey to my family.” Without waiting for his agreement, she left the room.

Finding a ride to take them to the compound turned out to be easy. After word had gotten out that the empress resided there, a lot of tradesmen, craftsmen, sellers of goods of any kind set out to try and sell their wares and services.

Jonas wasn't sure how they should proceed once they reached the compound. If Gaius and Magnus were indeed being held prisoners by Amara, it would be rather foolish and dangerous for him and Lucia to try a direct approach in requesting to see them. On the other hand, if Amara still thought Lucia capable of wielding her full _elementia_ , she might hold her back in how she treated them.

They traveled along at an adequate pace at first but the closer they came to the compound the worse the road conditions became. The rain from the day before had turned large stretches of the road into a muddy mess, strewn with deep puddles.

Both of them remained silent and lost in their own thoughts for most of the journey, feeling the effects of the sleep deprivation.

Jonas wasn't sure anymore what to think about this situation. He had urgent plans of reuniting with his friends, and then trying to find Cleo to finally rescue her from the Damoras – as he had promised himself he would.

But he couldn't deny that taking Lucia – and baby Lyssa – to their family gave him an uneasy feeling. He still wasn't sure how much he actually liked Lucia but their adventure had created an awkward kind of bond between them.

Would he really want to leave a baby with such people as Gaius and Magnus? They were her family, though … her family. Family! Of course, her family. How could he not have realized that! If Lucia had died in childbirth, as Timotheus had claimed she would, he could simply have taken the baby to her family. He wouldn't have been forced to keep Lyssa.

There was no way of knowing whether they would have believed his story, though. And he had to admit to himself that, if someone were to tell him this story, he surely wouldn't believe it without some kind of proof.

Anyway, considering who Lucia's family was … But he had learned that Lucia had a sister by birth, Laelia, who might have been willing to care for the little girl. He groaned with annoyance and buried his face in his hands.

All his life he had fought against the belief in destiny or fate or whatever people wanted to call it. But then, when he found himself a vessel of magic, he had started to believe in these things. And this growing belief and acceptance of whatever his fate might be had completely blinded him to the obvious. But during his dream visit Timotheus had so vividly told him about his fate, a very unpleasant fate from Jonas's point of view, that …

“Jonas!”, Lucia's confused exclamation cut through his thoughts. “Jonas, look, my ring!”

He lifted his head slowly. “What ring?” he asked, still occupied with the half-finished realizations that had been on his mind.

“The ring – Eva's ring. The ring that helped me protect myself against Kyan. It's glowing. And --” She broke off and started to look around frantically. “We have to stop the wagon, right now.”

“Lucia, we are getting close to the compound. It's not more than another hour or two.”

“No, Jonas, right now. We need to stop. The ring … it … I have to go into the forest.”

“Lucia, are you alright? Is this some kind of after-effect of giving birth?”

“No, I am very serious. If the wagon doesn't stop, I'll jump.”

“You can't jump off holding the baby, are you mad? - Driver, excuse me, do you mind? We need to stop here.”

“Why? There is nothing here, and I have to get to the compound.” grumbled the driver.

“Please, it will only be a minute.”

“Ok, but be quick about it.”

The wagon finally stopped and Lucia clambered down as quickly as she could. As soon as her feet were on the road, she set off into the forest as if following an invisible line.

“Lucia, wait” Jonas called after her. “Where are you going?”

“I don't know, Jonas, but I can't stop. The ring --”

“Don't expect me to wait for you if you run off like that,” the driver called after Jonas.

Jonas didn't care. He was too busy following Lucia through the trees. He wasn't sure whether he felt more annoyed or worried by her behavior. He still thought her a haughty, pampered, and naive princess, but his attitude had definitely softened since she had told him the chosen name for her little girl.

It wasn't difficult to catch up to her. She couldn't run very quickly with her delicate slippers, and carrying the baby was an additional burden to slow her down.

Suddenly she stopped in a clearing next to a mound of loose soil.

“This looks like a fresh grave,” she said, panting.

“Lucia, what is going on? What are you doing?” Jonas tried to keep the edge of worry out of his voice.

“Look, Jonas, my ring is glowing even brighter now. And it feels like it wants to pull me right into this grave.”

“I don't know … You are saying your ring led you to a grave?” Jonas asked.

Lucia frowned. “I have no idea. I thought this ring was supposed to help me wield my _elementia_ but nothing like this has ever happened.”

“Only one way to find out.” Jonas looked around, trying to find something to remove the soil with. He noticed a large piece of bark, picked it up and was about to start digging into the wet earth.

“Jonas, stop.” Lucia said, removing the sling with Lyssa. “Do you mind holding her? There is no need to get your hands dirty.”

She handed him the baby and motioned him to stand back. Jonas watched her as she closed her eyes and lifted her hands. All of a sudden, a column of swirling air, like a small tornado, appeared over the grave. The air spun faster and faster, pulling the loose dirt up with it. Then the tornado moved to the side of the grave and stopped as suddenly as it had begun, dumping a pile of soil onto the forest floor. Lucia carefully peered down into the hole.

“There is a coffin down there, Jonas – ah”. Lucia just managed to throw herself backward, otherwise she would have fallen right into the grave.

“Lucia, what happened?”

“The ring, it ... it almost made me fall into the hole.”

“Maybe we should just leave, Lucia. Whatever is going on seems very dangerous.” Jonas said with concern.

“No, Jonas. I really don't know what is happening but I just know that we have to get at whatever is down there.”

“And how do you propose to get back out?”

“I don't. Watch.” And with that she held out her hands again. As Jonas warily looked down towards the coffin, water started to fill the hole from below, slowly rising and carrying the wooden box upward towards them. When the water level was finally high enough to fill the whole grave, Lucia moved her hand again and a small wave washed the coffin onto the forest floor next to her feet.

“Nice work, Lucia,” Jonas complimented her.

Lucia gave him a tired smile sank to her knees next to casket. She looked exhausted from summoning her _elementia_.

“Maybe you should rest for a while. We can check out the coffin later. Any idea how to open it? It's nailed shut.”

“Thanks, but I think I have just enough power left for this final step to find out what's in there.” With that, she snapped her fingers and the wooden lid crumbled to dust, covering the body inside.

Something looked very wrong about the outline of the corpse: some of the limbs were displayed at rather odd angles as if … Jonas swallowed hard.

This person had not just died or simply been killed – their bones had been broken. Through the dust Jonas could see a faint glow that seemed to emanate from somewhere close to the center of the body.

Lucia seemed to have noticed it too. Or maybe her glowing ring directed her, Jonas wasn't sure. But as she reached out toward the glow, the body suddenly started to cough, causing Lucia and Jonas to jump back in surprise and shock.

Jonas helped Lucia to her feet and felt her trembling next to himself.

“Lucia,” he said quietly, putting a hand on her arm to calm her down. She nodded and with a flick of her hand the dust was swept off the coughing body.

Seeing this last act of magic brought painful memories back to Jonas's mind. The day at the market, when Kyan had killed Lys, Lucia had used her power to pulverize Lys's bow and arrow. Distracted by these thoughts, it took Jonas a few seconds longer to realize what – or rather who – he was looking at.

Lucia's scream pierced through the quietness of this eerie scene and she dropped to her knees next to the coffin. Jonas tried to kneel down next to her for comfort and support but the scream had unsettled and awoken Lyssa, and Jonas clumsily tried to rock her back to sleep.

Jonas watched as Lucia, tears streaming down her cheeks, was bending over Magnus, gently stroking his face. Finally, Magnus stopped coughing. He lay there, in that wooden box, his eyes closed, one of them badly swollen, an expression of excruciating pain on his face.

Lucia whispered his name and carefully touched his hand, squeezing it slightly, the answer to which was a soft groan. It seemed to Jonas that the pain Magnus must have been feeling had almost rendered him unconscious. And there was no way of knowing how long he had been down there, buried alive.

Jonas wasn't sure if his recent adventures with Lucia were responsible for it, but he couldn't help feeling that, as much as he disliked – well, hated, if he was honest to himself – this guy, he didn't wish this to happen to anyone, not even Magnus.

“Lucia,” Jonas gently touched her shoulder. “Can't you use your magic to help him?”

Lucia sniveled and tried to wipe the tears off her face. “I … I can try. I still feel drained from the effort of getting him up here but … “ She tried to compose herself and then placed her hands on Magnus's arm. Jonas wasn't sure what was supposed to happen but it didn't seem like anything did.

Lucia let go of Magnus's arm. “I'm so sorry, brother,” she said as new tears started running down her cheeks. She bent over him again and gently kissed his forehead. “I am sorry, so sorry. Please, I'll help you as soon as I can … “

“You can take more of my magic, Lucia.” Jonas offered.

Lucia gave him a grateful look. “Thank you,” she whispered. “But I feel I still need to rest a little bit first.”

Then, as if suddenly remembering, she reached out toward where the glow was coming from. Her fingers slid inside Magnus's pocket and came out holding a golden ring. She looked at it curiously, frowning.

“Ouch!”  With an exclamation of surprise and bewilderment, she suddenly let go of the ring and it dropped to the ground.

“What was that?” Jonas asked.

“I don't know. It felt like a burn.” She looked at her fingers as if expecting a scorch mark.

She picked up the ring again and placed it on the palm of her hand that bore Eva's ring. As they both watched, the glow of both rings seemed to start pulsating in synchronization, as if they were communicating with each other.

“This ring feels different,” Lucia said carefully. “Almost dangerous. I don't know what the meaning of this is.”

“Then maybe you should not leave the rings that close to each other.” Jonas suggested.

“Maybe you are right,” Lucia said, taking the ring from her palm and sliding it into her coat. “Do you think Timotheus might know what this means?”

Jonas gave a slight snort. “After all that's happened, do you think you would get a straight answer out of him? Fat chance. How would you even contact him?”

“You're right,” Lucia said, shaking her head. “I would have to wait for him to show up in one of my dreams.”

They directed their attention back to Magnus. His breathing had become stronger while they were occupied with the ring. And he was moaning more now. It seemed that he was slowly regaining consciousness.

And Lyssa was waking up too. Lucia sat down cross-legged next to Magnus, trying to feed the baby while talking softly and encouragingly to her brother at the same time.

Jonas couldn't help but feel the absurdity of it all as he surveyed that little scene. If someone had told him a few days ago that he would end up assisting – no, more than that, saving – both Damora siblings within less than a whole day, he honestly didn't know how he would have reacted.

And this second event made him wonder again about fate and choices. He knew that he didn't have to stay here. He was perfectly free to walk back to the road and hitch another ride to the compound to hopefully find his friends there – unharmed. But he knew with equal certainty that we wouldn't do that. He just couldn't.

So was there a fate after all? Something that, no matter how aware of his choices he was, would decide which choice he made in the end? He didn't want to think about that right then.

They needed to try to heal Magnus as much as possible and then, what? Continue on to the compound? Lucia still wanted to find her father, he assumed. And if they got Magnus to a point where he could actually talk, he might be able to provide some useful information about the king's, and maybe even Cleo's, whereabouts.

“Jonas, I'm ready.” Lucia's voice pulled him out of his reveries. He saw that she had taken off her cloak and built a kind of bed on which she had placed the bundled up Lyssa.

“Ok, go ahead. But remember, try not to kill me,” Jonas replied with the indication of a smile.

Again, he felt a draining and weakening sensation as Lucia took the magic she needed to heal Magnus. She didn't take enough for him to pass out again, for which he felt very grateful.

Jonas watched as Lucia pressed her hands against Magnus's arm, causing him to groan with pain as she did so. Jonas could already see on Lucia's face how exhausting this short but intense use of her magic had been.

Still she moved around the coffin to channel some earth magic first onto Magnus swollen eye and then into his other arm as well. Jonas thought she might actually faint from the process and he barely managed to catch her when she dropped to the side after the second healing.

“Lucia, this is enough. You are draining your energy too much with this.” Jonas urged her. “Leave some of your strength for Lyssa.”

Lucia smiled weakly at him. “Yes. … You are right. Just let me lie down for a moment.”

“Ok. In the meantime, I will look for some branches to try to splint your brothers leg. That should be enough until we get to the compound. And once you are rested enough you can finish fixing him. Alright?” Lucia only gave a nod in response as she curled herself up on the ground next to Lyssa.

Jonas had never actually tried to stabilize a broken leg with a splint but he had seen it done. It was definitely worth a try. They needed to get going if they wanted to reach the compound before nightfall.

He had  no idea how they would get Magnus back to the road, but Lucia was not only skilled in using her magic, she seemed to be rather inventive. Maybe she would come up with an idea. Would it be possible to somehow float the casket through the trees?

Awkwardly and interrupted by groans of pain from the prince, Jonas was finally satisfied with his makeshift splint. He gently woke up Lucia.

“We need to get back to the road. Any ideas of how to get your brother back there? I assume carrying the coffin is out of the question.”

Lucia rubbed her eyes and thought for a moment. Then she stood up and secured Lyssa's sling around shoulders.

“In which direction is the road?” she asked.

Jonas pointed it out to her. Lucia faced towards the indicated direction, closed her eyes for a few seconds to concentrate and then made a kind of rolling motion with her hand. Immediately, an icy path about two feet wide appeared, winding its way through the trees back towards the road. Jonas helped to get the coffin onto the ice, then looked around for a long stick with which to push it.

Walking next to the ice, the wooden box sliding along on top of it, it didn't take them very long to get back to the road. Jonas wasn't sure how much time they'd spent in the forest, but of course their earlier transportation was gone.

The driver had left their bundle of extra clothes by the side of the road, indicating their earlier stopping point. The number of wagons passing by was more sparse at this hour but they finally managed to convince a driver to give them a ride.

As the wagon rambled on towards the compound, Lucia knelt by her brother's side, holding his hand, stroking his cheeks and talking to him in a low voice.

Magnus was still barely conscious and Jonas wasn't sure that he actually understood anything she said or indeed realized who she was. But it kept her busy and seemed to calm her down, so he didn't try to discourage her. It also gave him a chance to find a somewhat comfortable position, close his eyes, and doze off for a bit.

After a while he became vaguely aware that the urgency was leaving Lucia's voice; that her tone took on a more questioning quality, and that she ceased talking for short intervals. He opened his eyes and by the looks of the scene, he had the impression that Magnus was actually talking to Lucia.

“Lucia,” Jonas whispered to her. “How is he doing?”

She looked up at him and smiled faintly. “A little better it seems. I think he is trying to tell me something but I can't make sense of it.”

“What is it?”

“It sounds like a name. 'Kurtis', I think. But I don't know what it means.” Then her expression soured and she added: “I think he also said 'Cleo'.”

“Cleo?” Jonas wondered. “What does she have to do with this?”

“I don't know, I'm just telling you what I think he said.”

At that moment Magnus turned his head toward Jonas and moved his lips.

“What did he say?” Jonas bent down and asked Lucia.

“He said he recognizes your voice.”

Magnus kept his one half-open eye on Jonas.

“Death is worse than I ever imagined, if you are here in the darklands with me, Agallon.” he managed.

“I guess you are getting extra punishment for all your sins, your highness,” Jonas shot back.

“The thought that you must be dead as well makes it surprisingly bearable.” Magnus retorted.

Lucia shot Jonas an angered look. “Leave him alone, will you? Don't you see what condition he's in? He doesn't know what he's saying.”

“Don't be so sure about that,” Jonas and Magnus said in unison.

Jonas decided to leave it at that. This was not the time for verbal sparring.

Lucia turned her attention back to Magnus. “You should rest more, Magnus. Here, try to have some water and then go back to sleep. You've been badly injured and I didn't have enough power to heal it all right away.”

He looked at her with confusion on his face. “Not enough power? What --”

“Shh,” Lucia interrupted him. “I have a lot to tell you and someone to introduce you to, once you are better. Now close your eyes and do as I say.”

She placed her hands on his cheeks and gave him another kiss on his forehead. And to Jonas's surprise, the prince did indeed as she had asked.

“Who would do such a thing to Magnus? And why?” Lucia wondered.

Jonas was unsure whether she said it mainly to herself but he couldn't help replying. “I don't think you have to look very far to find people who'd prefer him dead --” Lucia gaped at him. “Yes, that's right, Lucia. But this,” he gestured at the coffin, “is something entirely different.”

“Why would you want my brother dead?” she asked with a mix of incredulity and rising fury. “And why did you help me save him at all?”

“Seriously?” Jonas countered. “I suppose you are going to tell me he is just as great a person as your dear father, the King of Blood.”

“But he is! He is not just my brother, he is also my best friend. You don't even know him, do you?”

“I know him enough to know that … forget it.”

“My brother is kind and sweet. You know, he once brought back a pet bunny for me from a hunting trip --” Jonas tried to hold back but it was impossible to suppress the laughing fit that such an image provoked.

“A bunny? Magnus Damora gave you a pet bunny? Are you sure that wasn't just a dream?”

She turned away from him, apparently choosing not to dignify this with an answer. She refused to say another word to him for the remainder of the ride. That suited Jonas just fine, he really didn't want to get into any more discussions about how wonderful she thought her family was.

When they were almost at the compound, a group of Kraeshian soldiers suddenly stopped the wagon. Jonas wondered why the guards would be patrolling at this distance from the entrance. It turned out that the soldiers were on their way back to their barracks and had gotten suspicious upon seeing an open coffin in a wagon bound for the compound. They addressed Jonas and demanded his business.

“This,” Jonas said pointing at the casket, “is Prince Magnus Damora. And this is his sister, Princess Lucia Damora. We are here to reunite them with their father, King Gaius, who I believe to be held prisoner at this site. I need to speak to the Empress immediately.”

“You must be very foolish to demand an audience under such circumstances,” one of the soldiers sneered. “It is lucky for you then, that the emperor has instructed us to forward any information regarding the prince's whereabouts directly to him. We will escort all of you there without delay.”

Emperor? Jonas wondered. That could only be referring to Ashur. But it seemed unlikely that Amara would simply hand over her newly gained power to her brother without some kind of fight.

Had Felix done what he had intended after all? Whatever had happened here since he left on his fool's errand of reuniting Lucia with her family? The soldiers would not divulge any information and so he had to wait until the wagon finally stopped in front of the main building.

“Jonas,” Ashur greeted him. “I was wondering what had become of you. Everyone else seemed to have found their way here.”

“Ashur, what is going on?” Jonas demanded. He couldn't help but notice the sadness in Ashur's eyes and voice.

“I will tell you shortly, but first, it seems, I need to take care of our other guests.” Jonas saw Ashur talking to some guards who then helped Magnus and Lucia into the mansion. Once they were inside, Ashur bid Jonas to follow him into the hall.

“It seems we both have interesting and important stories to tell. That should pass the time while we wait for the others to return from their search for the prince.”

Jonas found a comfortable looking stuffed chair and more dropped than seated himself in it. He suddenly felt weary and tired.

As a servant brought in a tray with refreshments, Jonas realized how hungry he was. And while helping himself to cider, dried fruits, and bread, he started to relate to Ashur the events of what had been the three strangest days of his life.

* * *

 

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